Trade Completed! Lakers Trade Russell, Smith Might Not Be That Great After All!
On December 30th, Beijing time, Shams, a well-known reporter, brought a piece of important news: the Los Angeles Lakers and the Brooklyn Nets have reached a significant trade. The details of the trade are as follows:
Lakers receive: Dorian Finney-Smith, Shake Milton;
Nets receive: D'Angelo Russell, Maxwell Lewis, 3 second-round picks (2027, 2030, 2031, all from the Lakers).
This is the second time Russell has been traded; he was selected by the Lakers and first traded to the Nets in June 2017. At that time, the Lakers were in a rebuilding phase, but due to Russell's inconsistent performance and poor relationships with his teammates, the Lakers management decided to send him away! On June 22, 2017, the Lakers officially traded with the Brooklyn Nets, exchanging D'Angelo Russell and Moisés Bamba for the Nets' overall draft pick, the 2018 second-round draft pick, and $1.79 million in cash. Now, Dillon has been sent to the Nets again, which is really liberating for him! In these years with the Lakers, as a point guard, he struggled on the court due to conflicts with James' playing style. Even when starting, he found it difficult to perform well without the ball. As a result, this season he was directly demoted to the bench, where his playing time was not guaranteed!
Russell played his best game this season when James was absent. On October 9th, the Lakers played against the Trail Blazers at home, and James did not play in this game. Russell returned to the starting lineup and performed brilliantly, scoring 28 points, 5 rebounds, and 14 assists in 34 minutes of play, leading the team to a 9-point victory over their opponents! He became the second player in Lakers history to score 28 points, 5 rebounds, and 14 assists in a single game, following the legendary Kobe Bryant! This season, Russell's personal statistics have dropped to an average of 12.4 points, 2.8 rebounds, and 4.7 assists, with shooting percentages of 41%, 33%, and 84%. Both his field goal percentage and three-point percentage have reached career lows. His playing status with the Lakers has even fallen behind that of rookie Knickert, making his departure inevitable! Upon arriving at the Nets, he will return to his familiar position, and Schroder's departure makes him the absolute core of the backcourt. With the ball in his hands, we will see if Russell's decline is real or if he has been held back!
Speaking of Smith, many fans may not be too familiar with him. Let's introduce him briefly! Finney-Smith stands at 2 meters and 1 centimeter tall, with a wingspan of 2 meters and 13 centimeters and weighs 100 kilograms. He is an extremely perfect defensive piece for the Lakers' wing. Christie has made significant progress, but he is more suitable for guarding guards and has limited options against tall wings and forwards. Finney-Smith can take on this task. Finney-Smith has stronger positional versatility, and according to data, he is the only player this season who has defended both guards, forwards, and centers for at least 15 rounds in half-court set defense.
We can see that he is a typical frontcourt 3D player, and fortunately, he averages 2.4 three-pointers per game this season with a hit rate of 43.5%, which is also the main reason why the Lakers value him! Recently, Christie has grown visibly, becoming the core of the Lakers' perimeter defense. However, his defensive effectiveness is not good against frontcourt players, and Smith's arrival fills this gap well. He has the ability to defend positions 1 through 4, and can even hold his own against average centers!
However, his shortcomings are equally obvious. Looking at his entire career, he is a player with no independent offensive ability. On the court, 90% of his role is as a pure shooter, and as a frontcourt player, his finishing ability under the basket is average. His tactical participation is weak, and he is far from being a true top-tier 3D player! The most important point is that in the past 9 seasons, his three-point shooting percentage has been below 35% for 6 seasons, with the last two seasons being 30.6% and 34.8% respectively, and this season he has reached 43% in 20 games! This clearly has a certain degree of randomness, and how long he can maintain this efficiency is a big question mark. When his three-point shooting fails, is he still the answer for the Lakers? This season, he averages 5.4 three-point attempts per game, including 1.4 attempts within 4-6 feet (open) with no defenders around (48.1%), and 4 attempts within 6 feet (wide open) with no defenders around (42.5%). Can he maintain this after joining the Lakers? To secure stable playing time from the Lakers' frontcourt trio of James, Hachimura, and Reddish, he cannot afford to lose his three-point shooting. Once his three-point shooting fails, he really won't be that attractive anymore!
Regarding this trade by the Lakers, what do you think? Feel free to leave your comments and join the discussion!